Our Latest Addition!

KK and Reed made an announcement...they have a puppy! Me, not being a real pet lover, had to see the little guy in person before I could understand what all the excitement was about. I thought a dog was a dog was a dog...BUT, NOT SO! This dog is really cute. His name is Rudy and he is playful, making him a perfect fit for the entire family.

You know how some parents are anxious for their kids to do all the fun things other kids do? KK and Reed are no exception.

Don't worry, Rudy was not hurt in the filming of this video. I used to take the cushions off the lawn furniture to create a landing pad for the grandkids. Guess I'm going to have to do the same for Rudy. Furthermore, all good parents "clean up" after their children before they leave grandma's house. Usually I don't mind pitching in, but in this case, eeeeewuh!

My question is why would you watch something like this on purpose? I think I know the answer...they are wondering if it is time to potty-train. Oh, the adventures of parenting...

And the winner is...

Ta Da! 4th place at the San Juan County Fair. Actually I didn't expect to win anything after I realized that they sort us out by age groups before they judge anything. Are you kidding me? At my age, I'm in the semi-old lady category and competing against women who stay home and quilt all day. I was hoping to be sorted not by age, but by experience. That would put me up against the twelve-year-olds and maybe I could've won one of those big rosette ribbons with all the pretty colors. Oh well, lesson learned. I'm thinking that next year, I will lie about my age, but instead of saying I'm younger, I will say I'm much, much, older. That way, I can compete against the really old ladies who have all but lost their eyesight. Just my luck, they probably teach braille quilting somewhere. I'm okay with fourth place. I saw some quilts at the fair with a little ribbon attached that said "I participated in the San Juan County Fair." Actually, it was never about the size of the prize, it was about finishing.

Thanks for the naming suggestions. I liked them all, but the winner is....Jolly Green Giant, submitted by Melissa Wells. Missy's "prize" is a potholder made from my one leftover quilt block. I'm throwing in a knitted dishrag just to make it extra special! This was fun for me, so now I'm trying to think of more give-away contests I can do.

This quilting thing was so fun that I've signed up for a quilting class that begins next month. I figure that I will have some extra time on my hands since I won't be attending football games, basketball games, and track meets every weekend. Perhaps my next give away contest will be naming another quilt, but according to my daughter, I'm going to have to take it up a notch on the prize. I'll do my best Martha Stewart!

I've Been BUSY! OKAY?!

My family has complained a little about my lack of blogging, but they should know how busy I am, what with babysitting, gardening, and taking care of the yard! In addition, I've had several time-consuming "projects" this summer. (1) I cleaned my bedroom, closets, drawers, the works! That took a full week and two trips to Goodwill. There is no picture of this, but take my word for it, the bedroom is clean. It would be nice if I could get DoJo to buy-in to the Say No to Clutter philosophy. (2) I painted and recovered the bench in my entryway. I wish I had a "before" pic so

you could appreciate how great this looks. It still needs pillows, but I'm waiting until after I paint the entryway. (3) I helped Megan make a quilt for Sweet Pea's bed. WHY she hasn't shared that on her blog is way beyond me. (4) I helped KK get started on a quilt for her bed. The teal and brown fabrics came out of my 5-year supply of fabrics. She bought the print. This project was supposed to be her contribution to her new household since her handyman husband built a bookcase, but I was anxious to try out my new sewing machine, so I finished her quilt. Don't tell Reed. If he suspects that she has no domestic skills, he might try to return her. And (5), I finished a quilt for my bed. I started it about 5 years ago just by making the Churn Dash blocks from some green fabric I bought at WalMart. Long story short, I put the blocks away and never got back to them. I decided that this was a project that needed to be finished, so I went to work. Actually, I didn't love the green blocks as much as I did 5 years ago, but once I started sewing them together, I loved them again. I'm lucky enough to have a friend with a long arm quilter, so she let me use her machine and I had this monster quilted in about 3 hours! It took me two more days to bind it, but it is finished. Now I know why those quilts you see at the county fair are so expensive. I have about 100 hours into this thing and over $100 in materials.

Amanda took a picture of me holding up the quilt, but I couldn't use it on my blog because my face is so fat that you wouldn't be able to take your eyes off it long enough to be amazed by all my hard work.

Now for the fun part: Help me name this quilt. According to my friend who is the current president of the local quilter's guild, every quilt MUST have a label with the quilt name, the quilter, and the year. (I'm going to make this on my new sewing machine.) As you can see, I'm not all that creative. I mean really...I couldn't even think of another color to work with here! The entire quilt is green. So help me name my quilt and the winner will get a special prize. I will put all the entries in a hat and draw out the winner on August 8th. If you are the winner, I will contact you, get your snail mail address, and mail a special prize to you. (Megan Stewart does not qualify for this giveaway because she thinks the special prize is lame.) To everyone else...GOOD LUCK! I will post the winning label once I figure out how to make my new sewing machine make letters and numbers.